ESL man charged in beating, shooting

A 43- year-old East St Louis man was charged with severely beating a former East St. Louis police officer and shooting another man three days later.

Charles F. Stokes, of 732 N. 83rd St., East St. Louis, and 2356 Menard St., Apt. 2F, St. Louis — was charged Saturday with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with intent to do great bodily harm.

He is accused of beating Brett Rodgers, a former East St. Louis police officer, on Sept. 9. An accomplice, Terrence Clark, 37, of Cahokia, also was charged for his role in assisting Stokes in the beating of Rodgers.

East St. Louis Detective Carlos Coleman said Stokes and Rodgers went to Club Legacy on State Street, and Clark arrived shortly thereafter. The three later got into an argument outside the club, and Rodgers was severely beaten and hospitalized.

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Stokes was also charged with three counts of aggravated battery with a firearm for allegedly shooting Jermaine Perkins, 39, of Cahokia, on Sept. 12. He was in the front yard of his mother's home in the 800 block of North 83rd Street when a gunman came upon him and started shooting him.

Stokes is being held in the St. Clair County Jail on $1.25 million bail.

Rodgers had a long history of citizen complaints and lawsuits alleging excessive force and harassment while he was a police officer in the 1990s.